How the f*** are you all managing your electric bills?

[cofingalthetime]

I don't have gas...
Electric has gone up from 139 per month, to 225, and now the latest is 450...

I don't know how I'm supposed to manage.

Do you all pay by DD. I don't want a meter, I had one before, and it was a nightmare, so expensive.

If 450 goes out of my account next month I won't be able to buy food or petrol or clothes

I got the 150 from the council, and paid it immediately into my electric ,b ut that's a drop in the ocean. How are you all managing.

I'm really really scared.

@dementedpixie

Yes up to date balance and smart meter with regular readings. I can only assume with the massive price hike other people are seeing is that they were paying far too low / not enough previously. I don't live in a new house, 1960s not well insulated and have tumble dryer running feels constantly so my new DD is £130 a month combined for gas/electric with British Gas

£450 is a lot per month. Can you post your last bill?

We are in a 5 bed with an electric car and on the standard variable rate and we aren't near that. Only difference is the heating is gas but I turned the heating off months ago so we only use the hot water.

I've used any money on measures to bring costs down in winter, door curtain, warm clothing, electric blanket. Then I have water saving shower head and shower timers free from water company. I have two minute showers, four with hair wash twice a week.

Taken on a second job for now around my full time one. Making contacts to get any extra food, can help with allotments and so on. Payment in kind is good.

£450 was the quote for a new fixed rate rather than an actual bill fir her usage

My DD has a 4 bed house, heating still on in a morning as she’s got it set to 22 degrees, uses tons of hot water, baths/showers, heated airer plugged in 24/7 and her bill has just gone up to £165 for gas and elec, based on her actual useage. She’s switched to utility warehouse and I’m going to change to them as well when my BGas deal ends next month,
I’ll be going from £80 a month to £120.
Unless you have a hot tub, storage heaters, poor insulation, single glazing and electric showers there is no way you are using £450 unless you live in a mansion!

Definitely update on Thursday please, i know someone whos too scared to move due to the hoops UC make you jump through but i think she would be better off. @Wavygravy1

Are you on top of your meter readings? I was very lax and was paying ver the odds as a result. I have only got a grip on it now because of the situation - my supplier tried to increase my DD to just short of £600 a month. So we have looked carefully at what we use, turned the heating off earlier than we would normally, keep lights off, bought an air fryer rather than putting the oven on for a chicken kiev …..and I am paying less now than before the price hike.

Given that 80% of the population live in an urban area, it's not inaccurate to say that few people need a car. Just because you might live in the arse end of nowhere, it doesn't mean that someone else can't benefit from getting rid of their car. I did it a couple of years ago, no regrets.

Rubbish. There are lots of "urban areas" where you absolutely need a car.

I got a grant through my local Council to pay for solar panels on the front and side of my house. Cost me nothing and has made quite a difference to amount of electricity that's coming from the grid

We took out a fixed price deal which ends in October: not looking forward to the winter! We don't qualify for the council tax relief. What's the use of a payback loan? Johnson's Tories don't care - none of them will be suffering.

Is that recently or a while ago?

The subsidies available for solar panels is nowhere near as good as it used to be. The people who got in early on have done really well but not so much recently.

Often has just said the price cap will go up to £2800 in October from £1971 now.

*OFGEM

Ofgem don't say what the new rates in October will be until August. Unless you have seen otherwise, companies like Cornwall Insights make informed predictions but I don't think Ofgem would have said anything concrete like that.

The Chief Exec of OFGEM has written to the Chancellor today informing him of the rise and OFGEM has published the letter

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/may/24/energy-bills-likely-to-rise-by-800-in-october-says-ofgem-chief?CMP=ShareiOSAppp_Other

"Once in a generation event not seen since the 1970s oil crisis"

Fan fucking tastic 😒

Sorry Flumpaphone - bloody hell, that's new.

Thank you to the poster saving the country a fortune on official care for a disabled person.

Carers allowance is 69.70 per week for officially 35 hours (realistically I do 95 hours a week).

I have two disabled children. 69.70 / 2 /2 95 = 36p an hour per child.

Direct payments for an hour care costs social care £13.95 per hour.

So thank the poster for helping the country save some money.

So, do we know if they are changing to a quarterly adjustments to the price cap yet, which ofgem wants? Is that figure based on a 6 or 3 month period?

Think its October (which would be 6 months since the last rise in April) and then every 3 months after that.

Giving a price rise figure of £800 means nothing tbh without knowing the price per kwh and the household usage.

If that's the case then, at the risk of being too PollyAnna, perhaps the big decreases we've seen recently in the wholesale gas prices could be reflected in the December rates?

Making sure lights are turned off, less lamps are on and sockets turned off wherever possible can make a surprising difference to the electricity you use. Apparently games consoles on standby can be a big drain.
If you pay your bills by direct debit, don’t just accept the amount that your provider sets for you to pay monthly. I’ve just reduced my payment by £30 a month by just paying the minimum they’ll allow. So that’s one to be aware of.
There are some more money saving pointers worth taking a look at here

If you pay your bills by direct debit, don’t just accept the amount that your provider sets for you to pay monthly. I’ve just reduced my payment by £30 a month by just paying the minimum they’ll allow. So that’s one to be aware of.
I get it if you literally don't have the money, but I won't be reducing mine. If I don't build up any credit I won't be able to afford to put the heating on on winter.